Silver Dreams
by TorchicLover
Summary: A young, silver coated mare is captured by the cavalry. In being tamed, will she forget her wild roots, or will she forever pine for her herd, among the wild, flowing grasses she calls home? Rated T for the c word in the first chapter. Nothing major.
1. Freefall

**TorchicLover presents:**

**Silver Dreams**

Chapter One

Freefall

Her muscles screamed. She galloped down a hill. Her herd had been scattered by the men on horses. She could see a colt over there, and a stallion over that hill. She saw her mother trip and land on her side. She neighed frantically to the dark bay mare. Thankfully, her mother responded.

"Sleet! Sleet, run! Run until you can run no longer!" Her mother called out to her as she sped past. She hated feeling helpless. She hated seeing horses roped all around her. She knew, deep inside, that she could do nothing about it. So instead, she ran. She ran as her mother instructed. Sleet crossed lush, grass filled pastures. She soared over fallen trees. The silver mare took a deep breath, almost afraid to look over her shoulder. She closed her eyes and craned her neck to look behind her. The men came. There were at least five of them, riding their horses. All of them had ropes. They all came to restrain her, to take her away to who knows where. All she knew is that she had to escape. She had to discover her herd, to gallop down that steep, grassy hill to her beloved herd. Sleet shook her head.

_"Enough daydreaming. Live in the moment, you have to if you want to escape."_ The mare cleared her mind and focused on the task at hand. She did not focus hard enough. She had to dig her hooves into the ground to avoid a rock face she almost slammed headfirst into. She had forgotten that the men had chased her into a canyon. Sleet changed direction as quick as she could. The men were gaining. She could not make another mistake. Not another… not… another… Sleet's thoughts drifted again. She thought of her days as a filly, running carefree through long grass… The hoof beats of five horses snapped her back to reality. She stumbled, but kept on running. Her eyes widened. She stopped hard again. Swinging her head back and forth frantically, she began to panic. _"Crap."_

She had run into a dead end, and the men blocked the exit. She gritted her teeth. There was no chance of escape. No ledge in the rock surrounding her. No gap in her enemies' ranks. She was confused and afraid. She bolted. She bolted straight at the men and their horses. Some of the horses balked when the men tried to urge them forward. She smirked. Hopefully they were all cowards. She got ready to jump… but she felt something rub against her neck. The thing tightened, choking her. Sleet slammed to the ground. She tried in vain to run, but another rope went around her neck. She bucked. The men resourcefully used that to their advantage. A rope went around her back legs, and she tripped and fell on her side. She was breathing heavily. A man dismounted his horse and came to examine her. She did not retaliate. She knew when she was beaten.

After her examination, the men hauled her up and fitted a halter onto her face. The rough material irritated her skin. She bucked and reared a few times, but she was too drained from the run to put up a real fight. She was tied to three horses' saddles, and they walked off the capture site. She could do nothing but follow. Her confidence was broken.

* * *

Sleet saw some kind of structure in the distance. She could hear horses' hooves pounding. From the sound of it, a _lot_ of horses. She stopped to listen to the sound for a while, but the men quickly pulled her forward. She snorted and walked on. Their pace soon increased to a slow trot. She could tell that structure was their destination. The thunder of hundreds of hooves grew steadily louder as they got closer, and the party of horses and men soon reached a great, wooden door. Sleet's jaw dropped as it creaked open. Many horses were in perfect formation, trotting about. Most of them were a dull brown color, of average height and build. Some she could tell used to be wild. They were of varying color and build. She did not want to become one of them. She would fight the men every day, every hour of her captivity. Once she regained her strength, so help her, she would…

Her thoughts were interrupted as she was pulled forward. The other horses had passed and were trotting about, like dumb puppets, somewhere else. She was led into a corral of some sort. Already she hated the place. It was dusty ad infertile. There was little grass to be had. It was the pure antonym of her homeland. Grassy, fertile… habitable… Her thoughts wandered once more. She shook her head, clearing her mind.

Sleet was untied and left to walk around her corral. She got rather bored of her surroundings, and took entertainment from watching the cavalrymen and their horses drill on the dusty ground. She laughed inwardly at the bored expressions on most of the animals' faces. She got tired of that, too after a few hours. She then took to walking in circles. Sleet was relieved of her bored state when a rather fat man stepped outside. She watched him in awe as he heated up something in a fire. He kind of unnerved her, with his constant staring.

In a few minutes, he finished heating up his… his… thing, and a few uniformed men tried to fit her with a halter. She was not amused, and fought them, biting and kicking. After a few minutes, they managed to get the thing on her, and they led her outside. She balked when she saw the fat, pudgy man carrying the smoking metal. The soldiers cross–tied her and backed away. The man was also carrying some scissors, and he set down the brand to cut her mane and tail first. She wasn't really expecting much, but she thrashed around anyway. The man frowned. He tightened her ties, and snipped the scissors once before grabbing a lock of hair. He snipped it off. Sleet saw the piece of her black mane fall to the ground. She bucked and struggled, but to no avail. The man simply tied her feet to the posts. She snorted and hung her head as he clipped her mane and tail. He then moved to the hooves, untying her back hooves first.

"_Oh boy. He is just _asking _for it."_ Sleet thought. She craned her neck to look at him. The moment he lifted a foot… Bam! Boy, she did give it to him! Right in the chest. He shook his head, dazed. Sleet shook her head. _"Eh, he's ugly enough already. No use making him uglier." _She decided not to kick him further. He cleaned out her hooves and gave her shoes. She pinned her ears at that part. He did the same to the front hooves, and then tied them up again. He approached her with the glowing metal. She could tell this probably was going to hurt. She struggled against her bindings. He waited until she calmed down, before pressing the hot metal to her skin. She cried out in pain. The metal singed her fur and skin, making a permanent mark.

After her ordeal, she was turned out in that corral she was housed in previously. She was tied to a fencepost; luckily she had a long rope. Sleet sighed in boredom and lied down. Her legs nearly buckled under her. Today had been an action–filled day. She shook out her mane, forgetting that it was not as long as it was. She longed for the satisfying feel of her mane on her neck. The mare sighed. Would she be stuck here… forever? She raised her head and looked at a sparkling star. The North Star. Her mother once said it would guide her home. To her it just looked like a cold, mocking thing. It was free, and she wasn't. Sleet snorted loudly and lied her head back down on the dusty ground as sleep claimed her.

* * *

**Author's note!**

**How do you guys like this story? Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Original Characters? Please PM me or leave a review! It will be gladly appreciated and I will respond to your reviews the chapter after.**

**The image is supposed to be Sleet, I give credit to ferrasoul on deviantArt for that one. Beautiful art, is it not?**

**I was thinking about including a love interest for her at the fort… but I have no idea what he is to look like, act like, or what his name should be. Please leave suggestions in a review, and I will pick the one that appeals to me the most. I'll give you credit in every chapter.**


	2. Brazen

**Silver Dreams **

Chapter Two

Brazen

Sleet awoke to the sound of a bugle playing its song across the barren area. She studied her surroundings, surveying the buildings this time. The ones that held the horses. One by one, the cavalrymen took their horses out of the stables. Some of the horses were not taken out, and Sleet wondered why. She soon found out.

A few men, at least fifteen, had surrounded the corral she was situated in. She noticed a man walk towards the corral proudly. She figured he was the... Herd Leader... Of sorts. Sleet was untied from the fence post and led outside for a drink of water. She took generous gulps. Afterwards, she was tacked up. It took her a few minutes to get used to the bit in her mouth. She was then led into a small gated portion of the corral and mounted. By a human. She did not like that one bit. As soon as the gate swung open, she bucked and twisted. She did everything in her might to get this man off her back and on the dusty ground. In a few minutes, she succeeded. She was led back inside for another go. The second man she threw off easily. The third was a joke. The fourth was a little more experienced of a rider, but after she broke his leg, he got off rather quickly.

Sleet went on throwing off men, but this kind of exercise can get a mare quite tired. After about the tenth guy, she was visibly drained. Her nostrils flared in and out, and her legs were weak. The last man to get on was the one guy she had seen earlier, the one in charge. She did not have any more fight in her. When the gate opened, she did not go out. It took a little convincing from her rider for her to walk out. She bucked a few times and spun in circles, but she was visibly spent. She reared one last time, and it was over. He walked her around the edges of the corral before dismounting her and leading her over to the water trough for a nice, long, cool drink. She could not believe it. Someone had broken her. He patted her on the neck when she had finished her drink. She shied away from his touch.

_"You may have broken me, but you have not made me your pet."_ She glared at him as he handed her off to another man. She was led inside the stables.

She balked when they tried to get her inside a stall. She had already been un–tacked and fitted with her scratchy halter. It took the cavalrymen a few tries before she took her first tentative steps into her stall. Once her whole body was inside the small space, they shut the door. She felt unnatural in such a cramped, confined space. She was so used to the wide, open expanses of her home on the grassy plains. Horses were not meant to live like this! Horses were supposed to be free; free to roam where they wanted, not confined in man-made structures such as this. She snorted and looked around. _"At least they have food and water here." _She glanced up at the swinging hay net and craned her neck to look at the water trough. She nibbled a piece of hay and poked her head out of her stall, inhaling the breeze coming off the canyon. She longed for her home, but there were walls. So many walls separating her from freedom. She hung her head and looked at her brand. The mark of captivity. She would never be rid of it. Might as well live with it. She grunted in annoyance and started trotting around her stall. She stopped trotting when some men came down the aisle and took a horse from her stall. The drab brown mare looked over at her as she passed, and winked.

"Hello." The earth brown mare nickered quickly as she was led outside. Sleet ignored her and instead looked down the aisle and saw the Colonel approaching.

_"Oh how_ joyful_ I am with your presence!"_ She thought sarcastically. He stood at the entrance of her stall and looked her straight in the eyes. She got the idea that he was examining her. She pinned her ears at him and backed away nervously. She never liked being watched. He reached out his hand. He had an apple in it. She still had her ears pinned. The mare was not ready for this thing yet. She snorted and turned her back on him. The Colonel took away the apple and promptly walked away. Sleet snorted. When will the species of men ever learn?

* * *

The next day dawned on the military fort. Sleet yawned and stretched her legs. She poked her head out of her stall tiredly. She pulled her head back inside and lied back down. She was tired from yesterday's events. The Colonel was the first into the stables that morning. She was angry at his persistence. Why was he so determined, so sure that he could change her, that he could tame her? Why did he think that he could extinguish her flame? She had seen the other horses, the ones in formation on her day of arrival. They looked so lost, so, so... Trapped. They were the men's puppets. They had no free will. She did not want to become one of them. She did not want to become a mindless drone, nothing but a pawn to the humans. She would not be tamed.

The Colonel once again walked up to the door of her stall and offered her an apple. She once again refused. Things went on like this for days, weeks. The Colonel was always the first in the stables. He would always come to the door of her stall, and offer her a shiny red apple. Sleet would always refuse him. She was a rather stubborn mare.

Three weeks after her capture, she had still not taken an apple from the Colonel. Her green eyes darted to a cavalryman who came to her stall door.

"Hey girl." He smiled and attempted to pat her. She shied away. He quickly attached a lead rope to her halter and opened the stall door, leading her out. Sleet pulled back a little, but overall struggled rather feebly. She was placed in the corral again, and the Colonel rode up on his horse. He was rather stocky, a drab brown like the others. He nickered to her. She turned away.

After the men rode her around for a bit, she was placed back in her stall. It was now late afternoon, and the sky was lit up with the flame of a setting sun. She mournfully looked up at the stunning sight, her mind and heart returning to her Homeland. She sighed and hung her head in defeat.

_"Face it, Sleet. You will _never_ get out of here._

* * *

**Author's note**

**Sorry this chapter is a little slow, but it is kind of focusing on Sleet reflecting on her captivity and the possibility of her returning to her homeland. I promise the next will be better!**

**As always, please R and R! Also, submit suggestions for love interest!**


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